Witches and Fashion: A Look at the Influence of Witch Hats on Contemporary Style

Witch hats have become one of the most recognizable symbols associated with witches. These pointed hats are often depicted as black in color with a wide brim and a long conical shape. But where did this iconic accessory come from? The origins of the witch hat can be traced back to medieval times. During the Middle Ages, people attributed supernatural powers to witches and believed that they could communicate with evil spirits. As a result, witches were greatly feared and seen as a threat to society. During this time, traditional hats were already widely worn, and it is said that the witch hat was designed to exaggerate the existing fashion trends.

During this time, traditional hats were already widely worn, and it is said that the witch hat was designed to exaggerate the existing fashion trends. The pointed shape was believed to represent a connection to the supernatural, as it mirrored the shape of a cone used in witchcraft rituals. Additionally, the tall height of the hat was thought to symbolize the mysterious and elevated status of witches.

Why Do Witches Wear Pointy Hats?

Thanks in part to The Wizard of Oz, the word witch has become code for a certain type of dress. Flowing black robes. Black boots. Accessorize as you wish with a broom or a grassy complexion, but on pain of expulsion from the coven, do not forget the peaked, black, wide-brimmed hat. The hat makes the witch, to paraphrase Mark Twain. And yet the story of this particular hat—where it originated, and how it took on its demonic resonance—is a murky one. That’s largely because history is full of pointy hats, from the tapering hennins favored by medieval noblewomen to the soft Phrygian caps adopted by French revolutionaries (and Smurfs). There are simply too many varieties of pointy hat to describe in a single blog post, more possible antecedents than can be ruled out. But weirdly, one of the earliest incarnations of the conical headpiece is also one of the most familiar: Three female mummies uncovered in the Chinese region of Subeshi [PDF]—known as the “witches of Subeshi”—are famous for covering their hair with large funnel-shaped contraptions of black felt. They look like aunts in a fourth century B.C. outtake from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Experts aren’t sure exactly when pointed lids became associated with sorcery. Medieval depictions of witches often show them nude and bare-headed, their long hair mingling with flames and smoke. Woodcuts from the 1600s occasionally outfitted spell-casters in common bonnets. It wasn’t until the 1710s and 1720s that children’s chapbooks in England began illustrating supernatural tales with crones in peaked hats. Fueled by the popularity of these “penny merriments,” the stereotype caught on quickly. Western European artists began to modify images of witches from the Middle Ages, lengthening the blunt tips of their caps into devilish spikes. According to Gary Jensen, a former professor at Vanderbilt and author of The Path of the Devil: Early Modern Witch Hunts, the pointed cap became an easy, evocative way to signal dark magic. Witches in peaked hats started to appear on postcards from the American colonies. Legendary figures like Mother Goose and La Belfana—an Italian mother deranged by the death of her infant, said to fly through the night air delivering gifts to children—acquired pointy hats. During the Salem Witch Trials, witnesses reported seeing the devil: “a large black man with a high, crowned hat.” Later, Victorian-era storybooks further developed the theme.

But this timeline doesn’t tell us why conical hats were first chosen to represent evil. Less substantiated theories invoke old stories of witches in medieval England being forced to don crowns shaped like church steeples. The caps were supposedly meant to draw down God’s grace in a last-ditch effort to redeem the wearers. Or perhaps the credit goes to folk artists, who as early as the 1500s used pointed hats to subtly evoke devil horns, though rarely on women. (Goya’s 1798 oil painting, “Witches in the Air,” is an eerie outgrowth of this trend.) The two explanations that seem most plausible have to do with real-life marginalized groups. In his book, Jensen describes how the 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required all Jews to identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat (“Jewish hat” or “horned skullcap”). The style soon became a target for Anti-Semitism. Artists painted devils muttering curses beneath Jewish crowns. In 1431, Hungarian legal codes required first-time sorcery offenders to walk among their peers in “peaked Jews’ caps.” Medieval representations tying Jews to Satan were nothing new, and by the late 13 th century, Jewish attributes had soaked up enough ugly significance to tar all “unbelievers, hypocrites, heretics, pagans, and demons,” Jensen writes. So does the Wicked Witch of the West’s iconic chapeau reflect an ancient association between black magic and the Chosen People?

A second theory holds that the pairing of witches and peaked hats flows from anti-Quaker prejudice. A minority sect in colonial America, the Quakers were thought to consort with devils and dabble in witchcraft. Puritan backlash against the community was cresting in the mid-18 th century, at around the same time that the figure of the cone-headed spell-weaver began to insinuate herself into American folklore. There’s just one problem with this hypothesis: Quakers didn’t wear pointed hats. But the theory may yet hold water. Quaker headgear was itself the locus of squall and controversy. The movement’s founder, George Fox, famously refused to doff his hat in the presence of Cromwell’s ministers. “When the Lord sent me forth into the world He forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or low,” Fox told the magistrates. (Why? Because such “hat-honour” was “invented by men in the fall and in the alienation from God.”) Fox endured three separate prison stays for his disrespect; in the colonies, Friends honored his example by keeping their hair covered at all times. In 1876, an American magazine called Littell’s Living Age hailed the Quaker hat as “the war-standard of this quaint army of non-fighters.” Colonial Puritans, though, were not so kind, at times using the hats as an excuse to prosecute their religious rivals. Jensen suspects that it was a short hop from the Quaker cap as a symbol of doctrinal insubordination to the witch’s hat as an emblem of infernal craft. Of course, most modern people who identify as witches don’t actually wear the stereotypical witch’s hat. (They don’t have to pull on flowing garments either, although certain rituals are associated with color-coded robes.) Still, the peaked cap holds special significance for some Wiccans, who see it as a visual representation of the Cone of Power they draw on for their spells.

It is possible that the witch’s hat is an exaggeration of the tall, conical “dunce’s hat” that was popular in the royal courts of the 15th century or the tall but blunt-topped hats worn by Puritans and the Welsh. No matter what the fashion, pointed hats were frowned upon by the Church, which associated points with the horns of the devil.

Black was the chosen color for witch hats due to its association with darkness and night, which were seen as supernatural and magical. The wide brim was often worn to shield the witch's face and hide their identity. It is important to note that the iconic image we have of witches wearing hats may have been popularized through literature, artwork, and film. Over the years, various media have portrayed witches with these distinctive hats, thus solidifying the association in popular culture. Today, witch hats continue to be a popular symbol associated with Halloween and witchcraft. They are often worn as part of costumes and can be found in various styles and colors. The witch hat has become an enduring symbol that represents witchcraft, magic, and the supernatural..

Reviews for "The Importance of the Pointed Witch Hat: Enhancing Spells and Casting Magic"

1. Emily - ★★☆☆☆

I was really disappointed with "Where did witch hats come from". The premise seemed interesting, but the execution fell flat for me. The writing felt disjointed and the pacing was off, making it hard for me to connect with the story or the characters. Additionally, the plotline was predictable and lacked depth. Overall, I found the book to be underwhelming and wouldn't recommend it.

2. Michael - ★☆☆☆☆

I couldn't even finish reading "Where did witch hats come from". The writing style was incredibly amateurish and the dialogue felt forced. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked any sort of development. It felt like a wasted opportunity to explore an intriguing concept. I would not recommend wasting your time on this book.

3. Sarah - ★★☆☆☆

I was really looking forward to "Where did witch hats come from", but unfortunately, it didn't deliver. The story lacked originality and felt like a rehash of other witch-themed books I've read before. The pacing was slow and dragged on in certain parts, making it hard to maintain my interest. While the concept had potential, the execution was lacking, and I found myself feeling disappointed by the end.

4. James - ★☆☆☆☆

I found "Where did witch hats come from" to be a complete waste of time. The writing was dull and lacked any sort of creativity. The characters were forgettable, and the storyline felt convoluted and confusing. The book failed to engage me at any level, and I ended up abandoning it halfway through. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone looking for an enjoyable reading experience.

Witch Hats through the Ages: A Visual History